fudging original
by AlunaGray
Summary: Breaking canon or changing anything from the plot wasn't part of Percy Weasley's plan. He wants a normal life. Or as normal as a wizard-in-training's life could ever be. Was that too much to ask? Apparently it was, if Cedric fucking Diggory asking him to the TriWizard's Tournament's Ball was any indication. When in Merlin did that even happen! Reincarnated!OC-Percy. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** Breaking canon or changing anything from the plot wasn't part of Percy Weasley's plan. He wants a normal life. Or as normal as a wizard-in-training's life could ever be. Was that too much to ask? Apparently it was, if Cedric fucking Diggory asking him to the TriWizard's Tournament's Ball was any indication. When in Merlin did that even happen?! Reincarnated!OC-Percy. AU.

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter is not mine.

**Warning:** OC!Percy (plus other character POVs) likes to swear very much. Sometimes. In his (their) head.

* * *

Percy Weasley would like to think that he was average.

As the third son in a family with more sons than daughters, he was nothing special and often overlooked. The stereotypical middle child some would say, since Fred and George were practically a package deal and too impish to be left to their own devices so even if one of the twins were the real middle child, Percy blended into the metaphorical wall well enough that he _might_ as well be.

He was the weird one, the one that didn't quite fit in on the whole family image and was left to his own devices because he could be expected to act responsibly enough to clean up after himself.

Percy wasn't Bill with his genius and charisma.

Or like Charlie with his frankly uncanny way with dragons.

He wasn't like Fred and George with their talent in Potions and Charms - prodigies in a way that wasn't obvious at first, since their mischievous nature often overshadowed their skills so thoroughly that people constantly underestimate them.

Don't even mention Ron because despite the lovable brat's overall brattiness, Percy knew that his youngest brother's potential - his sheer tactical skill - apparent in the way he beat Bill again and again in chess - was _extraordinary_.

(As expected from someone that caught the heart of the smartest witch of his generation and the eventual best-friend of the Boy-Who-Lived. Often people in Percy's past life would disparage his little brother for being _human_, for being the most normal of the so-called Golden Trio and acting on his emotions like any other person. They thought of him as nothing special, hypocrites that they were, but Percy knew better. Ron - _Ron_ was a _genius_ in his own right and he would stand by it.

Oliver Wood's snarking of Percy's nonexistent brother complex aside.)

And Ginny. Percy couldn't possibly compare to the apple of their parents' eyes. His baby sister was a gem, his family's treasure and someone to be doted upon. Percy knew that in the wizarding world numbers, names and symbols have power, and number seven had always been particularly magical.

(It wouldn't be far-fetched if, during the time-skip between the end of the war against Voldemort and the first year of Harry and Ginny's second son, his baby sister had achieved more than Percy could possibly fathom. He never did really knew what happened since as much as he would like to say that he read all the books made by the artisan that J.K. Rowling, he was more partial to the movies and well - he skipped some parts of the book when his past life's parents got around to buying it for him.)

His siblings were amazing in their own right and all of them were a boon to the Weasley name. Percy firmly believed him being reincarnated paled in comparison compared to all of that.

_He_, in comparison to all of them, paled all in all.

(And Percy planned to _keep_ it that way.)

His past life's memories aside, he was pretty normal - nothing out of ordinary. Perhaps a bit smarter than his peers and a tad more enamored with books than people, but nothing outside of the norm.

Like, being reborn didn't magically made him into a capable human being, okay? Even at a young age, Percy knew his stint as a "genius" lauded by the quietly prestigious Prewett family as its heir, would eventually end after a few years give or take - with his contemporaries in this life catching up to him in no time. He had a few idiosyncracies here and there, but aside from being too enamored with texts and the like, he's just your normal bookish filler character in some side plot.

Nice, but not particularly interesting.

Percy would even do Harry Potter a favor and wouldn't kiss other people's arses in the Ministry like his counterpart did. He'll even handle the Weasley's family drama for good measure so the poor guy won't be affected by that too.

Percy'll be your average Joe. Helping here and there. Setting his brothers straight and lending a hand if he could.

He knew he couldn't do more beyond that even if he tried.

Even if he wanted to.

Because you see, Percy wasn't powerful. Or talented.

One would think that with him being reborn, he would get all the boons granted to Gary Sue's at transmigration, but well-

He didn't.

No parseltongue abilities, no mysterious bloodlines popping up out of nowhere, no otherworldly powers, no secretly _Tom Riddle's_ son or what.

No Gryffindor or Slytherin or Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw ancestors too.

No Peverell's either.

Zilch. Nada.

Just good-old Weasley magic - slightly weaker than the rest (compared to his siblings at least) with a healthy dose of hard work to make up for it.

He kept his head down for all his years at Hogwarts. Got himself sorted into Hufflepuff because the access to the kitchens sounded good and...

It may or may not be because the twins were getting overbearingly sticky a year before they themselves go into Hogwarts.

(His relationship with Fred and George were comparably better than the original Percy, but it seems that despite his doting treatment of them - Percy still got the short end of the stick. He didn't know what happened to make the two carrots to stick with him so tightly and give him their own brand of "tough love" but he's not standing for it when it came to studying magic.

Because duh.

It's _magic_.)

Thinking about how much his brothers would "bully" him made his head hurt just contemplating about it so despite the hat's repeated push towards Gryffindor, he put his foot down and went to the nicest house in the castle.

Hufflepuff.

Go Badgers!

Not that it stopped Oliver Wood, the captain of the Gryffindor's quidditch team, from being his best-friend, because the guy was mystifyingly insistent on getting close to him so even though he was on great terms with the people in his house - to the point of being recommended as a prefect like the original Percy - his closest friend was the muscled buffoon.

Percy lived his life as best as he could. He didn't care about changing the plot or fixing everything, but he wouldn't be so averse to helping people either. He'd do the best that he could but he wouldn't go as far as to manipulate the people around him like chess pieces in order to satisfy his nonexistent hero-complex.

(For all he knew, he'd make things worse by interfering and he wasn't willing to sacrifice his family.

They were all he had. Something he yearned for, from before.

He was selfish enough to choose _them_ when it comes down to it.)

His achievements in Hogwarts did little in making him stand out since Cedric Diggory shined brightly enough that anything Percy did was almost nothing in comparison.

Being the smart, quiet Hufflepuff senpai (with crazy Gryffindor twin brothers) that liked to keep to himself wasn't anything special in face of the sun that was the Hufflepuff seeker and, as mentioned, he was in good terms enough with everyone that there wasn't any unnecessary drama he dimly remembered this world's canon was riddled by.

Percy thought he was just a blip in everyone's radar. The one that blended really well with the once again metaphorical wall, that even Peeves, the resident poltergeist left him well-enough alone.

It was perfect.

Even when Harry Potter came in and the shenanigans started, it was perfect.

(Until it wasn't.)

He spent much of his time waving his wand, learning magic, doting and fussing on his brothers, occasionally fussing on his family's honorary brother Harry, and...ahem, protecting his virtue.

Yes. You heard that right.

Protecting.

His.

_Virtue_.

It wasn't mentioned in the book, maybe because he wasn't a very popular or plot-related character, but Percy was surprisingly popular with the Hogwarts population once everyone around him started hitting puberty.

Surprisingly, _horrifyingly_ popular.

Numerous girls and, surprisingly, even boys, would come out to him and confess. And seduce. And entice.

Because, apparently, his "scholarly-gentle" type was very hot, according to these hormone-filled teens.

Or according to Oliver at least, because that's what the buffoon said when Percy got around to asking his best-friend why the fuck he even deserved all of this shit.

It wasn't very pretty.

It came to the point that on the year of the Triwizard Tournament arc, Percy realized that his life was beginning to resemble a poorly written love story.

One that, honestly, he'd rather do without and wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole, if it came down to it.

Because, seriously.

It's like one of the fanfictions he guiltily read sometimes. When he's feeling particularly whimsical and fluffy where the Mary Sue would magically - but written in a pretty way, of course, so it would come across as mature and well-thought-out - strung along a harem and eventually catch across a big one. The handsome, popular, gentle fishy.

Fuck.

He's not even sure what he's thoughts veered into but fudgity fudgity_, _fudge _fudge_-

Percy just wanted a normal life. Or as normal as a wizard-in-training's life could ever be, at least.

A normal, cute side-plot fitting for a simple side-character like him-

_Was that too much to ask?_

Apparently it was, if Cedric Diggory's hopeful face earlier as he asked Percy fucking Weasley to be his date this coming Triwizard Tournament's ball was any indication.

When in Merlin did that even happen?

* * *

**Author's Note:** OR that story where an OC thinks he transmigrated into BL Harry Potter fanfiction.

He didn't.

Heh.

...

..

.

To all readers who're waiting for updates on my other stories, I'm really, really sorry. Some donated too, but well, I hit a bump in my writing and I'm writing this to get the creative juices going. I stopped writing to focus on my studies and pass my math subjects (Calculus 2 almost killed me) so it's been slow-going these past few weeks. Especially since writing thousands of words doesn't come to me easily.

I suck at promises, ugh. I still wish anyone, someone would donate though since my coffers, quite low at the moment and I can continue writing instead of looking for a job. It's shameless, I know since I'm lacking compared to other writers but well - everyone's got to _eat_. See my profile, if you're interested in funding me. T_T

I'll try to update at most two stories every two weeks (?) but it's not definite yeah since I'll be focusing on job hunting if this doesn't work :(.

Thank you for reading and reviews are always welcome!


	2. Chapter 2

To be fair, it wasn't like Percy asked for it.

Because you see, his best friend was one of those aliens - those absurdly oblivious attractive ones that care little for the things that plague a normal hormonal teenager.

Oliver Wood would feel bad if the sight of him sputtering as Cedric asked for his hand wasn't so hilarious.

It was about time.

Percy Weasley was too damn dense for his own good, that nerd.

He was like a...rock.

An adorable rock maybe, with his petite stature, startling blue eyes, and doll-like features, but still a _rock_.

Even saying that his best-friend had the awareness of a rock would be generous and if he was being honest, an _insult_ to the rock.

At least rocks break and knew when it was beaten.

But, this _guy-_

Oliver could only shake his head helplessly, as he looked at the still frantically pacing rock in front of him.

He meant this in the nicest way possible because their different houses aside, the guy was his best-friend - the brother he wished he had even, but Percy, unfortunately, was oblivious to the point of absurdity.

Oliver would have been fed up by his shit a long time ago if it wasn't such a reliable source of amusement.

Diggory's minions in Hufflepuff probably contributed the most to this lack of awareness since they always made any potential suitors of Percy back off in the earlier days (along with Bill and Charlie's protection when they were at school) - but Merlin, when the fangirls (and fanboys) grew rabid enough that they started not to care about Cedric's posturing (they were so persistent and blatant that it even made _Oliver_ ashamed) it took a special kind of person not to notice anything.

Oliver thought that if it wasn't for Lockhart's Valentine's stint, Percy wouldn't notice that no they weren't just being nice because you tutored them or helped them or -_insert good deed here_\- them, _Percy_. They were being nice because they wanted to get into your pants.

It wasn't like Percy was lacking admirers from before since during Valentines Day his chocolates could rival Cedric's. However, the nerd always naively insisted whenever Oliver would comment on it that these gifts were only given either as a sign of friendship or because they were for his two older brothers, not him so _don't be ridiculous, Oli._

When Percy was in first year and Bill and Charlie were still in school, this was what indeed happened throughout the year - his best-friend acted as a bridge for various upperclassmen since his two brothers were quite popular in their own way.

But-

His best-friend never stopped thinking that this was the case even when the years passed by and his older brothers graduated.

Yeah.

That fucking _nerd_.

Even when most of those who offered the chocolates now didn't even _know_ what his older brothers looked like in the first place, Percy would still think that because that's the kind of _idiot_ that he was.

(Most of their conversations during the previous Valentine's before Lockhart's would degenerate into something like this-

...

..

.

"Most of these are still for my brothers, Oli," Percy laughed and held up a note. "I'm not good-looking enough to get this kind attention so I wouldn't even assume."

"It has your _name_ on it," Oliver replied dryly.

Percy waved his hand. "Probably just a typo."

"That's a lot of typos." He stared at his best-friend incredulously.

Percy only laughed before taking out a familiar black box Oliver's pretty sure a certain tall, popular Hufflepuff gave. He picked up a piece - dark chocolate, from the looks of it, with almonds mixed in - and gnawed on it delicately.

"You want some?" Percy offered.

"Is that what Diggory gave you?"

Percy chewed before nodding. "Yeah. Cedric's pretty nice. It's my favorite too." His cheeks dimpled as he smiled. "We're partners in Herbology this year and we got a good grade. He probably gave it to me as thanks."

"Yeah. I'll pass." That guy would like to skin me alive as it was. Oliver would like to keep his life thank you very much.

Percy shrugged. "Suit yourself.")

Lockhart's half-naked dwarves going on and on about Percy's alabaster skin and how they wanted to lick it inch by inch - provocatively said in various poetic ways probably broke that illusion real quick.

Oliver thought he even saw a singing dwarf from Harry in there.

That Percy.

His seduction technique was flawless.

Even the _Boy-Who-Lived_ had no chance against him.

Harry Potter was lucky he was considered as an honorary brother of the family, because the twins, Fred and George, were particularly enthusiastic in well-

In marking their territory and giving retribution to those who dared to show interest.

_Yeah._

Those two's brother-complex were kind of serious.

Not that it bought them their older brother's love since their efforts were hopeless in face of Percy's...denseness, but meh.

Not his problem.

Those two used to riddle Oliver with endless pranks and taunts in order to discourage him from hanging out with their cherished older brother - fucking menaces that they were, but it back-fired on their arse when Percy started to look visibly upset by the treatment he was getting.

They quickly changed gears after that, because they were utterly whipped by Percy, and showed their remorse by sticking close to their older brother like a monkey after that - settling on just glaring at Oliver whenever the two were together.

Joke's on them because they were almost always together.

_Heh._

Oliver quirked his lips unconsciously as he continued watching Percy murmur to himself.

They met in the train during Percy's first year at Hogwarts. The guy was studying on his own in advance and didn't join his other brothers since their friends were too rowdy for his tastes. Oliver was too tired to find another empty carriage, asked to share, and well- the rest was history.

_Okay._

Oliver admitted that _part_ of the reason he asked to share in the first place, was because Percy was really cute, but he didn't swing that way, honest.

(Even if Percy did tempt him to, sometimes. Especially when he smiled this really gentle smile just for him and looked at him so gently it made his chest hurt a bit.)

But, that's not the point here.

"Oli, what should I do?" Percy bit his lip and finally stopped his incessant pacing. "It's not like I've changed anything since I came here." He muttered softly - but Oliver still heard because Percy was a nerd like that and couldn't hide his thoughts from him even if he tried. "I've tried my best to help, but the changes were minimal at best despite my efforts." He scrunched his brows. "The plot was going strong. When did this even happen?"

Oliver looked at him dryly and ignored the cryptic remarks that he gave up on decoding a long time ago. "Why are you worrying about this?" Oliver waved his hands languidly. "Just sick your ghosts on him, if you don't want to answer."

"Their not my ghosts, you idiot." Percy scowled. "I already told you that."

"So," Oliver hummed. "You do want to go to the ball with him?"

Percy's face twisted strangely. "I don't...know?" He wrung his hands in front of him. "Isn't he with Cho? Cho's hot, right? Isn't she his girlfriend?" He glared at Oliver as if all this shit was all his fault. "Is he even bent? Why the fuck is he bent?"

"Why the fuck are you asking me?" Oliver huffed, shooting Percy a pitying look. "Cho and Cedric weren't even together, for Merlin's sake. Where did you even get that idea?"

Seriously, sometimes, Oliver wondered where all the intelligence Percy was lauded for went once he started asking questions like this.

If one wasn't a hermit or a social recluse - two things that Percy wasn't by the way, anyone could pretty much tell that the two getting together was as feasible as pigs evolving and getting pretty wings to fly.

Merlin, even Luna Lovegood, Percy's honorary sister even knew about it and that girl's had the social-awareness of a thimble.

Even if Cho's hot as sin and Cedric's straight as a ruler, Cedric wouldn't touch her because of Penelope.

After all, Penelope Clearwater was Cho's best-friend and Penelope had bad blood with Cedric ever since that one time Percy had the brilliant idea of using Penelope as his shield against his fangirls before he stopped after three days because he felt too guilty for using her.

Percy offered to be the one to be dumped too, to give her some face and Penelope accepted despite not wanting to do so since she's genuinely interested. She was weak in face of the rock that was Percy though and ended the relationship.

Not that Cedric knew that and had forever blacklisted Penelope due to jealousy and the misconception that he hurt Percy and, in relation, blacklisting Cho.

Even if one wasn't in the know on Cedric's interest in Percy, Cedric's attitude to Penelope and anyone close to her was enough to raise flags.

_Tch._ This denseness was too overexaggerated at times, that it made Oliver sometimes wonder if his best-friend's purposely being stupid.

Oliver raised his eyebrows and continued. "Moreover, it's not that far-fetched that Cedric's bent. As far as I know, he never had a girlfriend before."

Percy looked at him, faintly astonished. "Right. I-" He paused. "I have to go." He waved his hands as if he was shooing Oliver away. "You stay here or do whatever."

Oliver rolled his eyes - used to the times when Percy spazzed like this. "You fucking nerd." He left and turned the corridor, nodding to the embarrassed ghost eavesdropping on their corridor.

So Percy, the alien doll, aside from being utterly ridiculous, had the Hogwarts ghosts on his side.

Percy didn't know that, though, and would always deny the topic whenever it was breached.

Merlin knew how many times Oliver brought it up, since even he found it creepy how protective they were of Percy (Oliver sometimes saw how they even post guards outside the Hufflepuff's dorm for Merlin's sake and tried to reign in some of the unrulier fans), but according to the dense one, he didn't notice anything and you're just seeing things, Oli.

_Oli-_

Oli, his _arse_.

Percy even joked once that Peeves probably didn't notice him because he's keeping a low-profile.

Oliver grimaced. Percy's lucky he's cute or Oliver would have smacked him in the head a long time ago.

Oblivious little _shit_.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I'm glad for the interest but um...this was made on a whim guys, so don't expect too much. It's not as planned as my other stories so it would have at most 10 chapters? I think I'll even finish it in five so yeah...

Fund me? Yes, I'm shameless. Sorry. \\( - _ - )/

Reviews would be really nice. :)


	3. Chapter 3

There were two unspoken rules in the Weasley household that the twins - Fred and George followed religiously.

One, Percy's a cinnamon roll and must be protected at all costs.

And two, Percy's innocence must be preserved.

If outsiders knew of this, Fred was sure that their rep as mischievous, habitual rule-breakers would be ruined. However, he was sure that if they knew Percy themselves and realized what he was like - anyone, even the most stubborn of people, would be swayed to their way of thinking.

Because you see, Percy's their family's baby.

Frail and overwhelmingly bookish, their older brother's the _epitome_ of gentleness. With his melancholic air and a heart that's too big for his own good, Fred and George took it upon themselves (and strung along with them all their other siblings for the ride with sheer stubbornness and brainwashing) to protect Percy from all people who aspired to push him down and bully him to tears.

He's too adorable - too _innocent_ for this world that nothing less than the best should be given because anything less than that would be a crime.

...Their relationship wasn't always this way.

Their attachment wasn't always this unhealthy, and both Fred and George didn't always like and appreciate Percy from before.

(They kind of resented him, actually.)

Fussy and pretentious, even at a young age, both the twins disliked how Percy's different from them. He was a _prodigy_. Doted on by their parents and excessively praised as the Prewett heir, there were never-ending comparisons from their neighbors and accepting warm eyes from an older brother that saw them in a far better light than they deserved to be.

They saw his overprotectiveness as fussiness and pretentiously maternal. His efforts in educating them as a way to present his inborn superiority. His kind actions as nothing more than smoke and mirrors.

It wasn't until _that_ happened that everything changed.

It wasn't _until-_

(until Percy saved them at the cost of his magic that they finally saw through him.)

It must be known that the wizarding world like every society wasn't perfect. To quote one of Percy's great quotes of awesomeness, "with great power comes great responsibility."

And wizards with their great power were- well-

Wizards weren't saints.

Some of them were murderers, con-artists, rapists and kidnappers. Greed, pride, sloth, gluttony, corruption - sins plagued their society like all societies in the world were riddled by.

Magic just made them deadlier.

After the official end of the war with Voldemort, the wizarding community was still in shambles. Criminals took advantage of the chaos to create more chaos and it took time before _most_ of them were thrown in Azkaban.

In 1985, when Percy was 9 years old and Fred was 7, Fred and George played a prank. They were visiting Diagon Alley with their mother - to buy supplies for Bill and Charlie's use.

At that time, Fred and George were disgruntled by their mother's scolding for one thing or another and-

They were kids. They were immature and Fred was cruel.

They took it out on Percy who looked at them sternly and helplessly during the whole lecture. Fred felt that Percy's concern was patronizing -_ disgustingly_ condescending that well-

They wanted to get away for a while and manipulate Percy - who was so irritatingly perfect and proper - into doing something wrong for once.

Once Molly and their two elder brothers were occupied, they sneaked into Knockturn Alley with Percy following right behind them. They misled him and went back with the intention of tattling on Percy but-

When they went back, Percy was unconscious, covered in blood, and a man was killed.

(During the investigation, Fred heard that the man was a convict that liked to prey on kids and had a penchant for getting their power for himself after using them.

And Percy-

Percy's magic was almost drained off. His core suffered irreparable damage when he prematurely used his power in order to protect himself.)

(The twins later found out that the convict was waiting for both of them - stalking them once they checked the memories of the people in contact with the criminal. The auror said that Percy must have felt that something was wrong and shifted the attention of the criminal to himself instead.)

("Poor child," They heard the healer in charge of Percy once mutter as he shakes his head. "His potential was great, his core unusually large for a kid." The healer sighed, "It's a pity.")

The incident was something they blamed themselves for. The hits their mother and father gave in punishment, the ceaseless scoldings and the accusing eyes of their siblings- they were nothing in comparison to the anguish and guilt they felt for the incident.

It was their fault.

Their _mistake._

Something they've had to live with for a long time.

But the thing _was-_

When Percy woke up, he didn't blame them at all. Smiling at them gently, he looked at them in relief and overwhelming affection.

As if they weren't the reason for his predicament.

As if his magic was _negligible_ and his future as a wizard was nothing in return if it meant that Fred and George were safe.

("You're okay." Their older brother said hoarsely - his eyes looking at them intensely as they walked inside his room hesitantly. His weak body relaxed once he confirmed that they weren't injured. "Thank God, you're safe.")

When Percy was informed that his magic would take time to stabilize and he could only enter Hogwarts at a later time, he only smiled and accepted it without complaint - attending Hogwarts when he was 12, since, despite his injury, the Quill of Acceptance and the Book of Admittance approved of his enrollment.

Fred and George made an effort to know him better, after that.

They vowed to themselves that they would protect Percy as much as they could - as much as they were able to. When they weren't pranking everyone (they continued their pranking in an effort to avoid Percy worrying about them), they were studying and pilfering books from Charlie and Bill or the public library near them - doing as much as they could so they could protect him one day.

(That's all they could think to do in order to give back for all Percy sacrificed for them.)

...

..

.

Percy wasn't perfect.

No one ever was, and as good - as _kind_ as Percy was as a person, his older brother had his own faults and weaknesses.

_Percy-_

Percy was an idiot with a severe case of "I'm-an-average complex" with a good dose of self-sacrificing tendencies.

George knew that even before the accident happened.

He wasn't like Fred. Fred had his own merits, but being observant wasn't one of them and his twin was never very keen on attaching himself to Percy after their parent's continuous praises and the neighbors' comparisons. It's George's job to make up for that and well-

George could see that, even from before, whenever Percy joked about how average he was or when he would bashfully shot down his achievements - it wasn't because he was feigning or fishing for compliments.

(George believed that Percy genuinely thinks that - despite all evidence pointing to the contrary - as if it was carved in his head over and over again until he himself _believed_ it.)

He never did care much for it, at first. It left Fred with a bad taste in his mouth whenever Percy acted modestly so George, as was the norm, followed suit and ignored it too.

It wasn't until after the incident that George realized how frightening the disparity between how much Percy cared for others and himself were.

It was _concerning_.

The difference was too jarring and all the more apparent when it comes to their family.

(Percy cared for them in a way that could be best described as obsessive, if not desperate. As if they were a treasure, his absolute everything - not unlike an oasis for a dying man trudging on to hell for days.)

(George felt that Percy would die for them - kill for them, if it was necessary. Do everything he could, if it meant that they could lead happy lives in the future.)

(It scared him sometimes.)

He was probably the only one who could see it, so George took it upon himself to act as Percy's counselor and, as muggles called it, "therapist" so he could work toward his own issues as they grew older.

(George would like to believe it helped Percy at least a little.)

Today seemed to be one of their sessions when Percy bumped into them going out of the prefect's bathroom - with Fred intruding right in just because he could.

"George, " Percy cried out, looking panicked. Apparently, he was too distraught to realize the fact that the twins weren't authorized to be in that part of Hogwarts in the first place and just let out all of his woes immediately - woes that George heard for the nth time already, but what's new was the-

"Am I in a BL world?"

George looked at Percy blankly - brushing aside the fact that he knew what Percy meant immediately due to the twin's forays in the muggle world before he replied, "When did you get to that conclusion Percy?"

"Is it _Oliver_ again?" Fred accused dramatically before Percy can reply, pursing his lips. "_I think he is_. I knew he was a bad influence on you." He nudged George to the side before mumbling. "And here I was thinking, that after he graduated, he'll finally scram and stop pining after Percy so much-"

George rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Fred." He sighed at the clueless look on his older brother's face and shook his head. "I think it's time for you to know something, just to stop whatever strange notions you've got into your head between the time you met Oliver and here."

Fred looked at him in surprise. "George-"

"You know I'm right." George smiled tiredly - looking at Percy as if he was a pitiful, pitiful thing. "If we let this go on, I'm afraid he'll eventually go into a route that would lead to even more understandings, so let's nip it off the bud this time."

Fred stared at George as if wanted to protest, before shaking his head. "All right."

Percy's cheeks flushed as it unconsciously puffed up. "I didn't-"

George patted Percy's shoulder comfortingly, maneuvering him away from the prefect's bathroom, "Don't think we didn't know how Lockhart's Valentine's day turned out, Percy." He reminded kindly as they walked. "I distinctly remember you being convinced that these people are zombies who want to eat you up because the dwarves went on and on about your alabaster skin." He paused. "Not that you were wrong, but it's not meant to be literal."

Percy huffed - opening his mouth to protest before Fred laughed and interrupted, "Or when Oliver went on to tell you about your admirers -" Fred's face slightly darkened. "that undid all of our hard work, mind you, fudging bastard-"

"Don't swear." Percy automatically warned.

"-you went to think that maybe there's something's wrong with his head instead of yours." Fred continued, ignoring Percy's reprimand.

George shot Percy a disappointed look as they slowly walked away, "And that time, when you think that we fed everyone a potion to let them act out like their house mascot for a whole year-" He frowned. "We were unjustly _accused_."

"Ahh," Fred brightened up, "I remember that!" He cleared his throat. "Why are some Slytherins "slithering" around me, Fred? They're squeezing me ah. George, Hufflepuffs were hugging me with all the chance they got too. I- _I-_" He stammered, imitating Percy's mannerisms perfectly.

Percy was speechless - his neck slowly turning red in disbelief.

"Why are Gryffindors eating my tofu? My tofu, my tofu, did I do something wrong?" Fred continued snickering, "Why are Ravenclaws circling over me? I'm not a prey ah." He comically blushed. "I'm kind of scared."

"Stop!" Percy blustered - his whole face as red as his hair. "It's not like that I- _I-_"

"You're a big boy now, so you should know about this now, Percy." George consoled solemnly. "It's not good to be this dense anymore."

"It's for your own good," Fred added. "You can't go on like this if you want to graduate."

"You- you-" He stammered - looking wronged as his eyes slightly misted in irritation. "You unfilial brats! It wasn't- I was" He stopped and just pointed at them angrily, before hurriedly leaving in a fluster.

After a moment or two, Fred looked at George in admiration. "Good diversion. That was a ballsy move."

George took off his benevolent counselor mask and comically brushed the sweat out of his brows. "Yeah, that was close. If he knew that we gave Cedric the shovel talk before we got here-"

Fred gave George a thumbs-up. "What Percy didn't know wouldn't hurt him."

* * *

**Author's Note:** I was influenced by translated Chinese novels. Cough, cough. Let's just pretend OC!Percy, was influenced too, so "my tofu my tofu" could be explained. Reviews would be fantastic. Thanks for reading. Donate ko-fi, if you enjoyed this chapter ah.


	4. Chapter 4

**4.**

Percy had a special place in Ginny's heart.

Ginny admitted that it was unfair of her to have favorites since, to be fair, the rest of her brothers treated her very well, _but-_

She was biased and life wasn't fair to _begin_ with so she wasn't ashamed to say that Percy's her favorite.

Gentle and overwhelmingly adorable, this brother of hers, in her humble opinion, was the best-looking of the lot. Percy was knowledgeable and polite - secretly lauded by their mother as the best son ever since he didn't escape his chores and was the only the one in the family that took the initiative in helping out in the house as much as he could.

He was likable, friendly with impeccable manners that won the heart of even their detestably stuck-up Aunt Muriel as she gave him the Prewett heirship fondly - pinching his tender cheeks while she was at it.

Percy, in her opinion, was pretty much perfect.

But that wasn't the main reason, she liked him the most, no.

It was, _well-_

It was because Percy was the only of the lot that made her feel as if she belonged.

(Being the only girl of the family had its own setbacks. Although spoiled and pampered, Ginny couldn't really connect with her siblings at first. Bill and Charlie were too old and busy, the twins too mischievous, and Ron too immature. She naturally couldn't understand why her brothers say or do certain things and the interests they shared were few and far between.)

(She had Luna as her companion, but-)

(Ginny couldn't help but feel lonely sometimes.)

(Percy was a breath of fresh air compared to all of them - once she got his attention out from his books, at least - because even though the others teased him for being girly and playing along with Ginny's pretend tea parties, the other only smiled gently in return, brushing her hair back fondly as he gestured for her to continue.)

(Percy really was too kind for his own good.)

In all the years that Ginny spent with him, she would like to think that she had a decent grasp on how Percy's mind worked.

It was easy to misunderstand Percy sometimes.

Despite his mature air and impressive equanimity, Percy was awkward in a way that was - but wasn't. At first glance, one could say he lacked self-awareness to an almost astonishing degree but, contrary to what the twins may think, Ginny knew Percy wasn't that.

After all, Percy was the most self-aware person she knew.

(Percy was brutally honest to himself, _frank_ in a way that would make most people curl inside themselves as they protect their withering ego. His standards for himself was set so high up there that even with all his achievements, he thought he was average.)

(And, in the greater scheme of things - he was _average_. Percy acknowledged that fact gracefully. Taking into account all the past and present wizards and witches - not to mention the muggles and intelligent creatures that lived beside them - he was average.)

(Percy once offhandedly said to her on a quiet day where they were just talking to each other that anyone he met or read about was better than him in some way, and worse than him in other ways. He knew that and he didn't hold it against them. It was useless to compare himself to them because they were different - they had different burdens, experiences, _personalities-_)

(He thought it was unfair, not only to him, but to the other person too, if he based his self-worth on what he perceived the other had and how good or how bad he was compared to them.)

(It would be useless to base his idea on who he was on to people that don't even thought or care a whit about him.)

Her brother actually knew what people said about him - had a vague idea, at least, about what people thought of him and said about him to his back.

But, the thing _was-_

He just didn't care.

And he would continue not to care and selectively hear what he wanted to hear, until they either tangled the people he cared for into it or forcibly dragged it out in the open.

The twins were blinded by their respective brother complexes - Fred more so than George and, Oliver was blinded by his own brand of Percy-complex, so Ginny had a notion that, in their heads, the three probably thought that Percy was Merlin's gift to everyone and since he was, all people in Hogwarts automatically adored him and wanted to get into his pants.

Which, they didn't.

Ginny fought with people long enough to know that not everyone liked her brother.

Percy was popular for sure, but not more than Cedric who had more appeal with the populace. He was adorable, but not _that_ adorable that everyone would go gaga over him.

The world wasn't one of the translated Chinese novels Percy (plus Ginny and the twins, because Percy roped them into it) liked to read after all, so even if Cedric did _like_ him - he was subtle enough that Percy brushed it off, the ghosts _were_ guarding him - they were inconspicuous and were very good at hiding themselves from Percy's eyes, and he _did_ have plenty of ballsy admirers-

It wasn't anything more than any popular boy in school, experience.

Probably.

Ginny admitted that some parts of Percy's Hogwart's life were strange, yes, but it wasn't _too_ unnatural. She knew of several more disturbing instances that happened to Hufflepuff's own golden boy, and what Percy had now was rather tame in comparison.

So after acclimating herself at Hogwarts, seeing her brother's perpetually misunderstood state, Ginny took it upon herself to watch over him as his shield against stupidity.

Merlin knows her favorite brother was too often bullied by the twins and often got confused by them, that adorable idiot.

(Family had always been Percy's weakness and the twins took advantage of that fact shamelessly.)

...

..

.

Ginny strode to the kitchen's purposefully - quickening her steps once she saw that the painting masking as its door was slightly open. Her Percy-is-being-bullied alarm was ringing since an hour ago and as expected, seeing her brother's confused red-puffed-cheeks form as he ate to soothe himself whenever he was _stressed-_

Something happened.

"Percy," Ginny called out hesitantly. "Is something wrong?"

Percy looked at her - blinking cutely as he gulped down the pastries the house-elves gave him before shaking his head. "It's nothing, Ginny."

Ginny studied Percy for a while before her eyes fired up intensely. "Is it Fred and George again?"

Percy's cheeks went even redder. "...No."

"Right." Ginny nodded knowingly. "Continue to eat and comfort yourself. I'll set them straight."

"Ginny," Percy asked, pursing his lips. "Don't-"

"Don't?" Ginny's eyebrows twitched. Percy looked at her helplessly before slumping down.

"Don't go overboard," Percy asked weakly.

* * *

"What did the two of you do, this time?" Ginny started, eyeing her two older brothers sharply.

"We did nothing wrong!" Fred protested.

Ginny face turned blank, a muscle in her cheek twitching. "What happened?"

Her older brothers looked at her warily - knowing better than to lie to her when she was like this. A moment passed before George stepped in front and tried to salvage the situation.

He fluttered his eyes in an attempt to look more innocent. "We were just...reminiscing, Ginny dear."

Fred smiled flatteringly. "Yes, you know, remembering some stuff since Percy's graduating and all."

"Percy probably just cried in joy," George added.

Fred shook his head. "He's quite sentimental, isn't he?"

Ginny smiled.

Fred and George shuddered before protesting their innocence. "We didn't do anything, Ginny!"

"Believe in us!"

"Right." Ginny drawled, unconvinced. Seeing Moaning Myrtle watching the show from the door of the prefect's bathroom, she gestured for her to get closer and raised an eyebrow in question.

There were times when Percy's peculiar popularity with the ghosts could be handy.

"They were giving Cedric the 'talk'," Myrtle said promptly, as she came nearer.

"Ah." Ginny nodded. "Then, what did these two idiots do to avoid Percy noticing that particular fact?"

Ignoring the twins pleading eyes at the side, Myrtle giggled. "I couldn't remember it word for word, but I think they teased him about how he couldn't be so clueless _anymore_ \- about how Percy complained, I think." She paused as she furrowed her brows in concentration as she tried to remember. "I'm not really sure, but it went with Slytherins slithering over him, Hufflepuffs squeezing him tight, Ravenclaws circling around him as if he was prey and Gryffindors eating his...tofu?"

"Ah." Ginny smiled at the ghost politely, filling in the blanks herself. "Thank you, Myrtle."

"It was nothing." Myrtle brushed it off, before coquettishly throwing the twins a coy look and disappearing inside the loo once again.

Ginny rolled her eyes slightly as she saw her older brothers slowly retreating away. "Where in Merlin's balls do you think you two are going?" She reprimanded.

The twins both stopped and turned back to her sulkily.

"Merlin, Ginny. You kiss Percy's cheeks with that mouth?" Fred started. When Ginny just pursed her lips at him, the more mischievous twin laughed nervously - scratching the back of his head with an awkward air. "_Nothing._ I said nothing."

George sighed in disappointment at his counterpart's one-man comedy show, before replying crisply, "It wasn't as if we were wrong in giving Cedric a warning, Ginny."

"No," Ginny acknowledged. "You weren't wrong, no. Merlin knew Cedric's father was a piece of work, but," Her eyes narrowed. "You shouldn't tease Percy over his verbal tics."

Her older brothers looked away from her sheepishly.

"You and I both know that Slytherins slithering was because of Percy's "can I slither in?" pick up line he jokingly told Daphne when he asked to share a table in the library. It endeared the girl so much, she shared it to her housemates so, now, the whole Slytherin house enjoyed using it back on him." Ginny reminded the two. "Him complaining - in his own way - about his fellow 'Puffs habit of squeezing him tight is only natural because his housemates liked to squish him far too much than what was considered normal."

"The Ravenclaws 'circling' around him as if he was prey was only said to lighten things up whenever Percy would study together with other Ravenclaw students since he was the only odd 'Puff out and Gryffindors-" Ginny paused to breath. "Eat his tofu because they liked to see Percy blush and seeing you and Oliver, when he was still here at least, get jealous because of their touchiness make their day."

The hallway was silent for a moment as the twins tried to let all of that sink in.

"You probably made it sound like he was a coy hussy, you idiots." Ginny continued, glaring. "What if he got confused?" She asked. "Just because Percy's too nice and a bit silly at times doesn't mean that you have to make fun of him."

"He was already confused when he got to us, Ginny." George defended himself, averting his eyes.

Fred nodded. "Oliver already got into him before we can."

"What?" Ginny's back stiffened. "How did that buffoon get here? He graduated already, didn't he?!"

"That's what I said," Fred said huffily, before grimacing. "We didn't know why he was here either."

"When he got to us, Percy was already saying he was in a BL world," George added, unashamedly pushing all of the blame into Oliver's shoulders.

Ginny thumped her head into her hand - slumping down. "That _idiot_."

"Yeah." The twins agreed.

* * *

**Author's Note**: This chapter was because of Pandash. Thank you for your support! To those who still didn't know, I have a Patr*on account with the same username, so if you want to donate there instead of Ko-fi, that would be fantastic.

I still couldn't believe I updated for the fifth time this week already, lmao. I wish people would review more lol, so I could keep up this almost miraculous updating speed XD.

Thanks for reading.


	5. Chapter 5

Percy's cheeks bulged as he chewed the cinnamon roll given by Ginny a minute ago and strolled around the castle.

His cute baby sister, as his dependable conscience, had managed to straighten him out and talk sense to him after wailing on the twins.

She, as usual, seemed to have blamed Oliver more than necessary in her lecture - Ginny and the twins always did, so that wasn't new -, however, it was as sensible - as pragmatic as always and well-

It cleared his mind off things.

Percy grimaced - painting a strange picture in the hallway since he's still chewing as his face crumpled in on itself.

He wondered just when he started to deceive himself this time.

(His mental health wasn't - it wasn't the _best_. It was a struggle sometimes, to remember a life different from this one and to know a future he couldn't change even if he wanted to.)

(Most of the time, it was bearable. He could function well-enough that even _he_ believed the lies he told himself. He dedicated himself to studying or reading to escape - or maybe, wrapped himself up in the easy affection from his family and friends, just so he couldn't stop and think and remember.)

(But, despite that-)

(It couldn't be denied that he suffer relapses - wrapped in silliness and of whimsy so sweet it hurt his teeth in order to avoid worrying his family. There were times where when he tried to willfully blind himself from the truth, it got a tad overboard - a bit unnerving as his thoughts went through strange trajectories just so he could avoid thinking of how little he could do to save the people he cared for.)

Of course, this wasn't a BL world.

He _knew_ that.

Cedric liked him, yes, in a way that baffled him for some time, but that fact wasn't enough to subject most of the major characters as gay.

...Even if most of his admirers were male, damn it.

Don't get him wrong. Percy knew that when it came to love, he never cared much for gender. He got his priorities straight so when it came down to it, he didn't discriminate and was open to being in a relationship in the future with someone that he could learn to love.

(Just, as long as they knew his family comes first.)

Although hormones were a pain and Cedric was admittedly a beautiful specimen that's very easy in the eyes, Percy wouldn't fall in love immediately just because the person liked him.

His life wasn't a fanfiction where he'd get caught in a whirlwind romance with any dateable character and hereby build his own harem.

Percy-

Percy would like to save himself in the future.

(He admitted he was a bit of a hopeless romantic, even in his past life, and well-)

(Although he didn't believe in "the _one"_, Percy would at least like to give his first_s _to someone, not for the sake of getting off or peer pressure but because he genuinely liked them as a person and he appreciated the respect he was given in return.)

Percy knew that this view was a bit outdated. Even Ginny had a boyfriend already and participated in things he would rather not imagine thank you very much, but for Percy-

Love, for him, just didn't work at first sight. Even though he knew attraction was part of it, Percy firmly believed one could only learn to love someone after enough time, work and affection.

Maintaining a relationship takes a lot of work and, Percy wouldn't even start entertaining the thought of it unless he was sure his whole family would survive the ordeal that would plague them in the future.

However, disregarding that-

Percy's cheeks reddened - squeezing the leftover roll tightly as he stopped in his tracks.

It still rankled a bit that his male admirers outnumbered his female ones once he got around to thinking about it instead of brushing it off as he was wont to do in the past.

His female ones were louder. They liked to mother him very much, but Percy knew only a few genuinely liked to start something with him.

(It wasn't surprising since Percy knew that although he would take care of them very well - sincerely with all he had, they wouldn't be number one.)

(They never would be, compared to his family, and not many really liked that, for the most part.)

(It didn't help that Ginny was an overprotective mama-bear and bared her claws to anyone who dared sullied his supposed purity so-)

(...Yeah.)

(She only got worse once the fans of several of his male admirers came out of nowhere and started spreading rumors about him being a hussy.)

The male ones, though-

Percy's heart hurt as memories of his male admirers' subtle and not-so-subtle courting flashed through his mind unwillingly as if to add salt to the already fleshed-out wound.

They were a bit covert, hiding it through endless tutor sessions or friendly hugs, but well-

Percy wasn't blind to not notice..._that_ down there and he could feel the lingering touches on his arms and hands just fine.

That wasn't to say he didn't have touchy, straight friends.

No, it wasn't that. Oliver was a great example of this since he liked to sling his arm around his shoulders, but-

There were some that treat him like a girl.

Really.

Was he that unmanly?

Percy would like to think that even if he was a bit slender and petite, he still had that macho air every guy had, right?

He looked down - pausing to pull back his robes in order to stare at his waist with a complicated look in his eyes.

No. His eyes turned faint red in determination. This thin waist was fine, ah.

It looked like it could be broken easily, yes, but Percy was healthy.

He was _perfect_ as he was, damn it.

...Merlin.

Percy let go of his robes and squeezed the poor already squeezed-out cinnamon roll in his hands for all its worth as he desperately tried to convince himself of his manliness and stop the memories of endless pampering he got from certain ballsy male schoolmates.

Six-pack abs were overrated anyway and who had that here, aside from several chosen Quidditch players?!

Willowy, pale and ethereal was the way to go, ah!

Who needed macho manly men with rock-like body and abs, when you have soft, pretty boys like him?

Right?

Right.

...Damn it.

Where could people even find the time to bench-press with the sheer amount of work the teachers demanded? Percy worked well with what he had for Merlin's sake. He was _manly_. The kind of manly that was a bit refined - a bit scholarly, as Oliver had once said, with glasses as his main charm point and although he had to admit that instead of the badass, intellectual charm he was aiming for, it kind of only made him look like _Pororo_-

Wait, that probably explained a lot, ah. Does Cedric like..._birds_? Not only down there, but up there too? Oh my golly-

Stop.

Percy shook his head harshly and continued walking to his dorm.

He was getting off track again.

He sighed - pushing his glasses up seriously.

The relapses were getting worse.

(It always did, whenever major events happened, because well- despite his best efforts-)

(He couldn't stop it.)

(Percy couldn't do anything.)

(He couldn't even save Ginny from the diary because, even if he tried his best to foil Malfoy's plans, Ginny still managed to get into Tom Riddle's hold and stand as that hocrux's sacrifice in the Chamber of Secrets.)

(Percy thought at first that it was a fluke. He thought that during the race to the Philosopher's Stone he was too careless, that he didn't plan it well-enough so Ron still had to suffer but-)

(Even with all his contingency plans, the world seemed eager to work against him as he was held up by a fever he didn't know he got from somewhere and in the end, he could only wait helplessly for Ginny, Harry, and Ron to recover after everything was done and the basilisk was killed.)

(Hah.)

(Percy thought that the plot wasn't set in stone since this world was real.)

(It felt real. They weren't characters. They were people. They were alive, and he managed to get Harry Sirius when he finally put Peter Pettigrew in jail without implicating his family but-)

(Percy was still too weak and he wasn't smart or powerful enough to do anything as the plot straighten itself out on its own.)

(Peter Pettigrew escaped. Harry was still recovering from the emotional abuse the Dursleys dished out (a mentally unstable and a tad childish Sirius wasn't helping) and his siblings were, as written, snagged into the whole fudging shebang.)

(The prophecy held fast and whoever was controlling this world seemed eager to let it play as it was fundamentally written.)

It was just-

Percy couldn't even help his family. He didn't even know how he could save Fred, for Merlin's sake.

How could he save Cedric then, damn it, if it seemed like the heavens were against him?

(Percy couldn't leave him alone - he couldn't just distance himself from the guy so that it wouldn't hurt as much, because as much as he knew that it wouldn't be any good for his sanity - that it would leave him cracked and slowly wore him down until he was a shade of his former self if Cedric died, Percy was a sentimental fool and Cedric was his friend.)

(That ever-smiling, sincere and intelligent Hufflepuff was his friend.)

(Percy wasn't very smart, in the first place anyway, so even if it'll hurt, Percy wouldn't leave.)

As much as he wanted to calm down, he couldn't stop his defense mechanisms from acting up on its own.

And to be honest, Percy didn't really want to stop it in the first place because he was afraid that if he _didn't-_

He wouldn't stop himself from breaking down.

Percy smiled grimly. How weak.

Hah.

He was a poor excuse of a transmigrator - shaming Mary Sues and Gary Stus everywhere. No magic, no bloodline, no system-

Percy didn't even have that hack somewhere that could net him lots and lots of money. (The inheritance from the Prewett family didn't count because he wasn't _that_ shameless.)

No golden finger, no great thick thigh to hold into, no emotionless ruthless background with a personality that could probably cope much better in his situation-

Percy was _pathetic_.

And as his feet led him to the Hufflepuff dorm and pulled Cedric to the side to nod and stammer yes just so he could convince himself that not doing anything was right - that giving Cedric this, before shit hits the fan was okay just so he could comfort himself-

Percy hated himself even more.

...

..

.

(Cedric's stupefied look and the blindingly bright smile that came after only made it worse.)

* * *

**Author's Note:** Pandash's Ko-fi sponsored this chapter. T_T I don't want to make promises anymore because I suck on keeping them, but I'll try to post the next chapter of Ruminant soon. I don't know if I managed to convey the frustration and Percy's messy thoughts well-enough, but I'll probably go back and edit this again. Thanks for reading.


	6. Chapter 6

When Ron Weasley received the outfit his mom sent him, he promptly went to Percy to exchange that horrible suit for the one his older brother has.

It was terrible of him, yes - he couldn't do that with Fred and George, let alone Bill or Charlie, but-

If it was Percy-

He'd probably smile and thank him as he pushed his own tastefully designed Prewett-certified heirloom in Ron's arms - transfiguring it to fit Ron's body for good measure while complimenting him like a proud father.

Ron knew from experience that once his siblings discovered his stunt, they would slap him silly, but Ron didn't want to settle for something less when he could get a better one easily.

Besides, his older brother would probably get his dormmates to help in transfiguring that bloody horrible outfit and if it hides that admittedly outstanding face just a bit better-

Why shouldn't he do so?

(And if Ron somehow hoped it would turn a certain dastardly Hufflepuff off, then that's no one's bloody business, but his own.)

...

..

.

Ron wasn't wrong.

He hadn't even managed to step a foot out of the Gryffindor tower when Percy came bouncing in himself to Ron - pushing his exquisitely designed suit to Ron's arms and fetching Ron's own in front of the twins' eyes.

His older brother stubbornly reasoned in the face of the twins (and Harry's) protest that since he used to wear that hand-me-down before anyway, it wasn't a problem to wear it now so despite the twins glaring, Ron just raised his hands and shrugged in an attempt to show his innocence.

What could Ron do?

The boss had spoken and it would be hypocritical of him to refuse since he did need a better one. Ron didn't even need to ask this time, so they couldn't beat him up as they wished.

Heh.

(It was his first official date with Hermione after all and looking good wouldn't hurt to change her impression of him.)

Ron booked it out of there once George fetched Ginny to fix up the costume. Merlin knew that woman was too bloody overbearing, she'd probably snatched the costume out of Ron's hands once she saw the hopeless state of that...dress was in and brainwash Percy to be a normal, selfish human being.

It sometimes worked too, since Percy always listened to Ginny as if their sister was their mother so it was safer to get out of the firing range and hope for the best.

* * *

Percy had always been Ron's greatest cheerleader.

He was that older brother that didn't brush him off. The weird one that gave and _gave_ \- asking nothing in return as he sincerely believed in Ron and his capabilities.

Ron hadn't spent as much time as the others with Percy. His older brother was almost always at Aunt Muriel's house for some reason or the other during Ron's childhood and Ron, unlike Ginny, wasn't favored by the old bat so he avoided going there as much as he could. There was also the issue about the "incident" that left Percy weak for a long period of time, so Ron spent most of his prepuberty phase with the neighbor's kids or fooling around with Fred and George whenever they got themselves out of their slump.

But-

The little snippets in time Ron did have with his delicate older brother were always tinged with unceasing fondness and inexplicable trust.

(That made it hard to hate Percy even with the evident partial treatment he got from everyone Ron knew.)

That feeling hadn't changed when Ron finally went into Hogwarts and well-

It honestly made him uncomfortable.

Percy wasn't doing anything wrong. Ron felt warm, cared for and pampered whenever Ron was with him but-

It was tad unnerving and too out of Ron's usual norm that he couldn't stand it for a longer period of time even if he wanted to.

Percy was too...nice and gentle in a way that made Ron feel ill at ease.

Ron felt that if he'd sell Percy out, the guy would haggle for his own price just so Ron could get the better end of the deal.

...He wasn't kidding.

Ron wished he was damn it, but he sensed that the probability of that happening if Ron wished to do so was particularly high.

It was too bloody abnormal to act that foolishly generous. Percy didn't even have the slightest defense against people he called his, bloody hell -

It made Ron want to tear his hair off from stress.

Ron thought that with enough acts of selfishness and by being the best example of a parasite, Percy could grow out of his innocence and naivety so he wouldn't be hurt irreparably in the future by people he trusted, but well-

It didn't work as Ron imagined it would as Percy delightedly pampered him like a young master and indulged his every whim.

Ron admitted that there were even times that he took the treatment for granted and if it wasn't for Ginny's whomping, he'd probably be more of a jerk than he already was.

So when Cedric Diggory bought his family's treasured baby to the floor to dance and stared at him hotly for the whole night, Ron wanted to smack that bastard's face on the floor.

(Ron had an inkling about Cedric's intentions for Percy after the international Quidditch match they watched earlier this year. He didn't believe it before since Cedric was relatively low-key with his moves that only obsessed people like the twins and Oliver could even see the so-called blatant courting that was happening however-)

(Ron's alarms were faintly ringing during the Quidditch event, once he realized how Cedric was a tad too sticky to Percy than what was normally accepted. The bastard was very good at toeing the line, though, so it wasn't as suspicious as it should have been but-)

(Ron could feel his dastardly designs.)

Bloody hell.

Ginny and the girls in the Gryffindor dorm were too good at their job, that even if they spent a considerable amount of time getting ready themselves, they still managed to transfigure the horrid costume Ron had before into something stunning.

The two made an eye-catching picture as Cedric danced and teased Percy endlessly - looking delighted as his older brother blushed fetchingly.

Merlin, if it wasn't for Hermione looking ravishing and diverting his attention, he'd probably join the twins as they postured around the two like flies that badly needed a swat.

Damn it.

* * *

**Author's Note: **This chapter was sponsored by Zuzu's ko-fi. Thank you for the support.


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